Felix Brych

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Felix Brych
Brych at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Born (1975-08-03) 3 August 1975 (age 48)
Munich, West Germany
Other occupation Lawyer
Domestic
Years League Role
1999– DFB Referee
2001– 2. Bundesliga Referee
2004– Bundesliga Referee
International
Years League Role
2007–2021 FIFA listed Referee

Felix Brych (born 3 August 1975) is a German football referee. He referees for SV Am Hart München of the Bavarian Football Association. He is a former FIFA referee and was ranked as a UEFA elite category referee.

Refereeing career[edit]

Brych started refereeing in the Bundesliga in 2004 and was awarded his FIFA badge in 2007. He refereed his first senior international match in October that year, taking charge of Romania's 2–0 win over Luxembourg in UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying Group G. In February 2008, Brych was appointed to referee the 2007–08 UEFA Cup Round of 32 match between Panathinaikos and Rangers,[1] and in October 2008, he officiated the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League Group D match between Liverpool and PSV Eindhoven.[2]

Brych officiated the first leg of the 2011–12 Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona, a match that finished with a win for the Blues over the defending champions. In August 2013 he officiated an international friendly between England and Scotland at Wembley Stadium.

On 14 May 2014, Brych refereed the 2014 UEFA Europa League Final between Sevilla and Benfica. The match finished 0–0 after extra time, and went to a penalty shoot-out, which Sevilla won 4–2,[3] in what was considered a controversial officiating.[4]

On 12 May 2017, Brych was chosen by UEFA as the referee for the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final, played in Cardiff on 3 June 2017 between Juventus and Real Madrid. He was joined by assistants Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp, and the fourth official was Serbian Milorad Mažić. Bastian Dankert and Marco Fritz served as the additional assistant referees, with Rafael Foltyn appointed as the reserve assistant referee.[5]

On 29 March 2018, Brych was selected by FIFA as one of the referees to officiate at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, his second FIFA World Cup. Brych was joined by assistants Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp.[6] He refereed just one game at the tournament, Switzerland's 2–1 win over Serbia. However, after controversially not awarding Serbia a penalty, FIFA made the decision that Brych would officiate no further matches at the tournament.[7] The politically explosive match was followed by heavy criticism from the Serbian media and representatives of Serbian football. In this regard, Mladen Krstajić, the coach of the Serbia national team, said one day after the lost game with a view to the war crimes of the Yugoslav Wars: "I would send him to the Hague. Then they could put him on trial, like he did to us."[8] For this Krstajić was punished with a fine of 5,000 Swiss francs.[9]

At UEFA Euro 2020 he was rehabilitated and refereed one game of the Round of 16, Belgium's 1-0 win over Portugal, one quarter-final (England's 4-0 win over Ukraine) and finally the semi-final game of Italy against Spain at Wembley Stadium, London on 6 July 2021.

On 25 November 2023, Brych torn his PCL during a game between Eintracht Frankfurt and VfB Stuttgart. The game also marked Brych 344th appearance in the Bundesliga which tied Wolfgang Stark for the most in Bundesliga history.[10]

Personal life[edit]

Outside football Brych is a qualified doctor of law, having written his doctorate about sport.[11][12]

Record[edit]

Major national team competition[edit]

2014 FIFA World Cup – Brazil
Date Match Venue Round
14 June 2014  Uruguay –  Costa Rica Fortaleza Group stage
22 June 2014  Belgium –  Russia Rio De Janeiro Group stage
2018 FIFA World Cup – Russia
Date Match Venue Round
22 June 2018  Serbia –   Switzerland Kaliningrad Group stage
UEFA Euro 2016 – France
Date Match Venue Round
16 June 2016  England –  Wales Lens Group stage
22 June 2016  Sweden –  Belgium Nice Group stage
30 June 2016  Poland –  Portugal Marseille Quarter-finals
UEFA Euro 2020 – Europe
Date Match Venue Round
13 June 2021  Netherlands –  Ukraine Netherlands Amsterdam Group stage
21 June 2021  Finland –  Belgium Russia Saint Petersburg Group Stage
27 June 2021  Belgium –  Portugal Spain Seville Round of 16
3 July 2021  Ukraine –  England Italy Rome Quarter-finals
6 July 2021  Italy –  Spain England London Semi-finals

Other matches[edit]

Other matches
Date Match Venue Round
29 July 2012  Senegal –  Uruguay United Kingdom London OGS
4 August 2012  Brazil –  Honduras United Kingdom Newcastle OKS
22 June 2013  Japan –  Mexico Brazil Belo Horizonte Confed

UEFA club competition[edit]

UEFA club competition finals
Date Match Venue Round
14 May 2014 Spain Sevilla – Portugal Benfica Italy Turin UELF
3 June 2017 Italy Juventus – Spain Real Madrid Wales Cardiff UCLF

Honours[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Panathinaikos 1-1 Rangers – Lineups". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  2. ^ "Liverpool 3-1 PSV – Lineups". uefa.com. Union of European Football Associations. 1 October 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  3. ^ "Sevilla v Benfica, Europa League final 2014: as it happened". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Com arbitragem polêmica e muito drama, Sevilla bate Benfica nos pênaltis e conquista a UEL" [With a controversial officiating and much drama, Sevilla beats Benfica on penalties and wins the UEL]. vavel.com (in Portuguese). VAVEL Brasil. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Felix Brych appointed Champions League final referee". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Brych einziger deutscher Referee bei der WM 2018" [Brych sole German referee at the 2018 World Cup]. kicker.de (in German). kicker-sportmagazin. 29 March 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  7. ^ (www.dw.com), Deutsche Welle. "World Cup over for German referee Felix Brych | DW | 5 July 2018". DW.com. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  8. ^ Steve Bates (24 June 2018). "Serbia boss Mladen Krstajic faces World Cup ban after astonishing 'war crimes' rant". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  9. ^ "Xhaka and Shaqiri Are Fined, Not Suspended, by FIFA". The New York Times. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  10. ^ White, Oliver (26 November 2023). "The German referee sustained an injury in a record-setting Bundesliga match". dailysports.net. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  11. ^ Longman, Jeré (18 April 2012). "Alone, Armed with only a whistle". The New York Times. London. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  12. ^ Brych, Felix (2004). Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der gemeindlichen Förderung des Berufssports aus rechtlicher Sicht. Studien zur Rechtswissenschaft (in German). Vol. 153. Verlag Dr. Kovac. ISBN 9783830016441.
  13. ^ "Felix Brych: Best Referee of the Year". Globe Soccer. 2017.
  14. ^ "THE WORLD'S BEST REFEREE 2017: THE CONSECRATION FOR FELIX BRYCH". IFFHS. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  15. ^ "IFFHS MEN'S WORLD BEST REFEREE 2021 - FELIX BRYCH". www.iffhs.com. 5 December 2021. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  16. ^ "IFFHS WORLD'S BEST MAN REFEREE OF THE DECADE 2011-2020 : FELIX BRYCH". IFFHS. 13 January 2021.
  17. ^ "IFFHS WORLD REFEREES OF THE XXIst CENTURY (2001-2020) - FELIX BRYCH LEADER !". IFFHS. 16 February 2021.

External links[edit]

Sporting positions
Germany Felix Brych
Preceded by 2014 UEFA Europa League Final referee Succeeded by
Preceded by 2017 UEFA Champions League Final referee Succeeded by
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